Show me love like I've never know (Gold)
by TiffaniLouise
Summary: Clarissa Johnson is a 17 year old student with a crush on her physics teacher Mr Holmes. When he discovers that her father is abusive, he tried to help. But she doesn't want his help, she attempts to seduce him. It only gets harder for Clarissa until Sherlock saves the day. Can a relationship bloom between them against all odds? Could they keep it hidden? How will others react?
1. Prologue

**Show me love like I've never known (Gold)**

**By Tiffani Pateman**

* * *

**Prologue – Clarissa Johnson **

There were a lot of things right with Clarissa Johnson's life.

The first thing is her appearance. Clarissa is 5 foot 9 inches and weighs nine stone roughly. It is considered between healthy and unhealthy weight, on the borderline. She is slim with curves at her chest and hips, only small curves, nothing too in your face. Her skin is naturally slightly tanned with the added tan from a holiday abroad, the only skin untouched by skin would have been covered by a bikini. The brown curls stretch past her shoulders a few inches in big wavy curls. A streak in her hair is bleached and coloured in dark but bright purple that she can hide behind the brown strands if need be. Her eyes are an average blue, nothing exciting or overly pretty but they are bright beneath her long lashes. Her face is built up of delicate features, she was lucky to not have a large crooked nose or a weird chin. Overall she was attractive, very much so.

The second, she is bright. Her head is not simply empty space like it is on many pretty girls, no she has a brain and she uses it. An A grade student throughout her school life but that didn't mean it was all natural. She had to try, really try to get her grades. She would often spend the evenings studying in the library or pull all-nighters in the name of god grades.

The third thing's about Clarissa's life that was defiantly right was her musical abilities. She was a very talented singer even if she was modest about the very fact. Now she was able to play piano and guitar quite well, while playing violin as an amateur.

Clarissa also had friends. Well everyone has friends but she had an adequate amount of friends. She could be considered quite popular even if she chose her studies over her friends most of the time.

There could also be considered a few things wrong with her life.

There was her father for one. An angry man with greying hair and brown eyes surrounded by wrinkles, he was broad and strong. Since the death of her mother (a gentle woman with brown hair and blue eyes like Clarissa) her father had become even angrier. He had started taking his anger out on his daughter. It was subtle things at first, shouting and raising his hand until it developed into hitting. The real reason was that he just couldn't deal with the loss of her mother or the fact that Clarissa looked so much like her. She was "a constant reminder" of her mother and it meant she had to be punished. Punished for not being perfect or right like her mother. Clarissa had learnt to just accept the pain, it was easier than fighting back and being hurt further. It was easier to pretend like it wasn't happening to her, like she was someone else.

That's how we get to our next point. Clarissa is motherless, of course she is not the only girl in the world to lose a mother but that doesn't stop it from being traumatic. Cancer was the cause, so the death itself wasn't quick. But perhaps it's best if we go into that later.

The worst thing in Clarissa's life is not her mother's death or her father's abuse but instead that she had a hopeless crush on her physics teacher Mr Holmes. It was stupid. He was a strict teacher who only cared about his work and it being done correctly. He could read the students if he chose to, often using their personal lives against them if they started to pick a fight with him. He wouldn't hesitate to give detentions or embarrass you completely. Clarissa had so far kept on his good side by doing her work and keeping her head down. It was like a curse to have a crush on him, especially when he had no interest in anybody.


	2. Chapter one - Late

**Chapter one – Late**

Clarissa was running late. It was Monday morning and instead of sitting in tutor with her friends she was rushing her morning shower. There was no way that she could leave without having a shower, her hair was a tangled mess after a particularly bad fight with her father. She only had minutes to enjoy the warm water cascading over her body as she attempted to sooth her battle wounds. By the time she had finished in the shower and dressed into a simple black dress, a blue blazer and blue trainers with heels. She walked to school faster than usual with her bag weighed down with books.

First period was physics with Mr Holmes, Clarissa didn't knock on the door before entering. Instead she pushed the door with more force than necessary and stepped into the classroom. All eyes focused on her immediately.

"Nice of you to join us" Mr Holmes commented from where he was sat behind his desk. He was sat straight backed with a pen in his hand while he marked the pile of books on the table, the students were doing some work from an activity book. Clarissa sent him an apologetic look before making her way to the seat at the front of the class. She had hoped that he would leave it at that but instead he continued, commenting further in his usual bored if not annoyed tone. "I'm sorry we've disturbed your sleep Miss Johnson, I thought your education was more important than your morning shower but apparently I was wrong."

A few sniggers went across the classroom but nothing enough to embarrass her further. "Sorry" she said calmly. "I overslept" she lied before opening her book and beginning on her work.

"Hmmm" was all the response she got. After a few moments of silent work while ignoring the questions from her friends who are aware that she would never oversleep Mr Holmes spoke again. "Clarissa see me after class please."

Clarissa sighed but nodded in response knowing he would be looking at her. She just continued with her work instead. By the time the bell rang she had almost finished her work and vowed to finish it when she had some free time. It wouldn't take her more than ten minutes, she slowly packed up while the other rushed out of class. There was no reason for her to rush when he wanted to talk to her anyway. She had just packed her books away and slung the bag over her shoulder when the door closed leaving the two of them alone in the room.

Mr Holmes was stood now, leaning against his desk. Clarissa tried not to notice how tight the white shirt was on his lean body or how the top two buttons were left undone showing his pale neck and chest. Instead she focused on his face, it was tight like usual. Lips pursed as he often did before speaking, the pale skin stretched over his cheekbones, blue eyes wide beneath his long lashes. His hair like always was unruly falling over his forehead with a small gap as guidance to where a parting should be if his hair was combed off his face.

"Why were you late?" He asked, blue eyes hot on her own.

"Overslept" She lied, her eyes flicking to the floor as she spoke.

"Your alarm didn't wake you because - " he trailed on expecting an answer, crossing one hand over his torso while bringing the other to rest on his chin.

She finished for him "the batteries ran out, I forgot to change them. It was my own fault."

Mr Holmes pursed his lips again before pressing on, obviously sensing that she was lying. "Didn't you parents wake you?"

"My mum's dead" she said quickly, ducking her head down again. "My dad was sleeping, it was my own fault really."

"Fine" he said with a nod of his head but it was clear that he wasn't satisfied with the answer. Clarissa pushed herself off her desk and moved towards the door. "What happened to your legs?" he asked raising his eyebrow at her as she turned to face him again.

Clarissa looked at her own legs, noticing the various shags of bruises all over before looking back at him and shrugging. "I probably just bumped into something, I'm clumsy like that." She added a smile to sweeten the deal slightly.

"You need to go and see your tutor. He'll sort out the detention with you and you'll have to make up the time with me after school as well." He said in his usual baritone. Clarissa just nodded in response. "When are you free?"

"Tonight" she suggested.

"That is agreeable" he responded before sitting down at his desk once more. "You are dismissed, go to your next class."

Clarissa nodded before leaving. Once outside the class room she just lent against the wall and breathed deeply. She hadn't even noticed the bruises on her legs and hiding them now would be impossible, she scolded herself for not having a story prepared. She went to her next lesson.

An hour later she emerged from her lesson and decided to go and find her tutor. Dr Watson was in his joint office with Sherlock. They were both sat at their desks, Sherlock with a book in his hand and feet on the desk while John was reading the paper with a cup of coffee in hand. She knocked before going in, sending them a smile before walking towards Dr Watson.

"Sorry" she apologised. "I came for my detention."

"Yes, why were you late?" John asked with a slightly disapproving look as he folded his paper up and placed it on his desk.

"Overslept, no real excuse for it Sir so I will graciously accept my detention. I have already apologise to Mr Holmes" she glanced at him "and am making up the time after school."

"You apologised?" Sherlock repeated, his raised inflection showing it was a question.

"Not in so many words" she admitted "but it was subtext to the explanation."

John just chuckled before reaching for his detention pad and filling it in. "When else are you free?"

"Tuesday is good for me if it is for you." She said ignoring how suggestive that sounded.

"Tuesday will be fine" he said amused, obviously picking up on the suggestive note. "We can go over your coursework if you like, make sure it's the best it can be."

"I spent the weekend tweaking it and making sure the sketches were as accurate as possible, I'd love to see what you think of it." She admitted with a cheery grin.

"Remind me what your plans are for next year, university?" John handed her the detention form and lent back in his chair.

"Hopefully" she admitted "I really just want to get out of this place, go to London and just live my life."

John nodded. Clarissa blushed and nodded back before quickly exiting, calling "goodbye" over her shoulder before shutting the door behind her.

Clarissa walked down the hall without looking back towards the office.

* * *

John glanced at Sherlock who was wearing his 'I'm not 100% satisfied face' which in John's opinion meant that he was going to start digging deeper until he discovered the truth. John could tell by the way his brows were knitted and his lips pursed tightly that he was not going to let this go easily.

"Please can we not do that this time" John breathed.

"Do what?" Sherlock asked innocently, leaning back in his chair and sorting his collar out like nothing is wrong.

John sighed in disbelief. "You obviously do not believe her and are readying yourself to figure out why she is lying."

Sherlock lent forward, resting his elbows on the desk. "You cannot believe that she simply overslept."

John ran his right hand through his hair, dishevelling it slightly. "Well, it doesn't seem likely that she overslept. I've been her tutor for six months and she hasn't once been late…" he paused pursing his lips. "Her grades have also started to drop. She used to be an A grade student, now she's just scraping C."

"I trust you noticed the bruising on her legs" Sherlock commented.

"Yes" John sighed. "Hard to not notice -"

Sherlock cut in "The bruise patterning suggest offensive in nature, likely gained in defending oneself from an attacker –"

John cut in this time with a wave of his hand, raising his voice as he began. "WE don't know anything yet. Yes, the bruises do look like they were gained from defending herself from an attacker, _but" _he added with extra emphasis to keep Sherlock silent for a while longer. "We cannot just dive into a student's home life without_real _cause. We cannot help unless she comes to us and you know that Sherlock."

"I know" he huffed.

Neither one of them wanted to let it go nor would they that easily.


	3. Chapter two - Making up time

**Chapter two – making up time**

Clarissa knocked on the classroom door at the end of the day and listened out for the "come in" from the other side of the door before pushing it open and walking in. Mr Holmes was collecting books from the desks when she walked in. Without even exchanging a word she placed her bag by his desk and started collected books with him.

When they had finished collecting the books, they placed the, in the cupboard before returning to his desk. She pulled up a chair for herself, not seeing the point of sitting across the room on her own. "I finished the work from class" she announced with a small smile, sitting herself down on the chair and pulling her note book from her bag. She placed it on the desk so that he could either look at it or allow her to work in it.

"You can get started on the next exercise in the book" he instructed, handing her a work book before sitting down at the desk. He picked up the book he had been reading earlier in his office. Now she was up close she could see that the book was French.

They fell into a blissful silence, him reading with the occasional sound of his turning the page. Her working, glancing from the workbook to her notebook and writing almost frantically, the sounds of paper on pen were considerably loud in the silence between them. After bout fifteen minutes she began to sing quietly not even aware that she was speaking out loud. "_When the lights turned down, they don't know what they heard. Strike the match, play it loud, giving love to the world. We'll be raising our hands, shining up to the sky. Cause we got the fire, fire, fire, yeah we got the fire, fire, fire. And we gonna let it burn burn burn burn…"_

"Your singing" the baritone pulled her out of her thoughts and she stopped singing immediately. A blush spread across her cheeks and she ducked her head slightly at the observation, he had been listening to her singing.

"Sorry" she apologise quickly.

"Why are you apologising?" he asked, looking at her over the top of his book.

Clarissa looked at him, his blue eyes immediately resting on hers and she shrugged. "When you do something wrong it's proper to apologise."

"But you weren't doing anything wrong" he said as he placed his open book on the desk and studies her features.

"You pointed out I was singing, I stopped because it must have been annoying and then apologised because it's polite" she explained. To her the logic was there, when her father pointed out how wrong she was being she would apologise for it.

Mr Holmes just stared at her for a moment. He took a breath and lent forward before correcting her. "I pointed out you were singing as a fact, nothing more. The sound was not displeasing nor was it annoying; in fact the sound was quite pleasant. I merely wanted to make you aware that you were singing because you seemed to have been doing so without realising. I knew you would be embarrassed if you knew you were singing and told you about it."

"Well I'm sorry anyway" she added just to be sure that she was in fact in the right.

"But why?" he asked a little more forcefully.

"I just am" she exclaimed with a long breath.

"Fine" he said with a tone that he wasn't convinced. "How are you doing with the work?" he changed the subject.

"Fine, thank you" she dismissed quickly.

She went back to her work aware that he was watching her but not really caring. After two minutes of silence he spoke again, his baritone pulling her from her work so she was once again making eye contact with him. "Remind me again why you were late this morning."

He was testing her on her answer which meant that he suspected something. "Forgot to change the batteries of my alarm clock" she answered with a roll of the eyes to accentuate how stupid of a mistake it was.

"Right and the bruises?" he questioned, moving his hand to rest on his chin.

"Clumsy, just bashing into things I guess." She shrugged.

Mr Holmes lent back in his chair and crossed his arms. "The pattern of bruising suggests that they are offensive in nature, likely from defending oneself from an attacker."

"You must be mistaken" she added with a smile.

"I rarely am and never about matters such as these."

"Such as what?" she questioned.

Mr Holmes smirked, the corner of his lip turning up slightly "Cases of physical abuse. I mean you've all but confirmed it. Your mother is dead; you live with your father who resents you for your mother's death. I'm assuming that you look like your mother and that is a trigger for him. He's strict and has certain ideals which you do not meet because you are not your mother even if you look like her. It started when she died but only subtly then it developed into bodily harm. It's happened since then, you've been to four schools in the last three years, I'm guessing they started to notice as well probably not as quickly as me. But then I hadn't been looking out for it, if I had I would have figured it out a lot quicker, believe me."

"I do believe you" she said.

"Is that all you picked up from that?" he asked in disbelief. Bringing his hand to rest on the side of his head.

"No I heard it all" she admitted. "But you're wrong."

"Wrong?" he repeated with uncertainty, his brows knitting and eyes narrowing.

"Wrong" she lied.

"I'm never wrong" Mr Holmes stated as a matter fact, leaning forward so he was closer to her.

Their faces were several inches apart when she responded. "This time you are."

"Really?" he asked still not believing her, she just nodded in conformation not trusting herself to speak. "Well…" he began allowing the word to trail out of his mouth slowly before continuing as his eyes flickered down her body before returning to her eyes. "You are obviously lying, I can prove it to you if you like."

"Please" was all she said in response. Clarissa nervously licked her lips which made him smile further.

"You I asked you why you were late this morning, you claimed you overslept but you couldn't look me in the eye when you said it. Instead you looked at the ground, tell-tale sign of lying right there. You then told Doctor Watson the same thing and you claimed it was your own fault, taking the blame for the situation but you have not been late one day this year since starting at the school. The most likely situation which led to you being late is that you were nursing wounds caused by your father. Not your leg wounds, you didn't even notice them because of the rush you were in this morning, I'm guessing that you suffered other injuries to the rest of your body." He paused, pursing his lip before continuing "Just like I know that you are attracted to me, it's written all over you face and in your actions."

"Wow" was all she could manage in response. She looked at the desk before snapping her attention back to her teacher. "That was incredibly sexy, do you do that often? Just go off on tangents of thought?" she countered, batting her eyelids at him.

Sherlock noticeably tensed up. The situation not only becoming awkward but incredibly wrong, if anybody walked past they could overhear the conversation and it could be the end of his career. "You can go now" he announced.

Clarissa smiled at him but packed up her stuff obediently before standing and making her way to the door. She paused before opening it and spoke over her shoulder to him. "It's not so nice when the tables are turned." She ducked out of the door and walked through the practically empty hallway, her thoughts racing with the idea he knew about her father. She didn't want to move again, somehow she'd have to make sure that he father didn't find out.


	4. Chapter three - one black eye

**Chapter three – One black eye**

Clarissa managed to avoid questions the next day on the rather dark black eye that she was attempting to hide behind her hair. The bruise had formed over the night. A circular are around the left eye was dark purple with lighter shades around the outside. Her actual eye was swollen slightly causing it to shut slightly.

When she walked into Doctor Watson and Mr Holmes office for her detention she lifted her head and smiled at them politely. Instead of being met with equally friendly smile she was met with their shocked faces. Her hair had fallen from in front of her eye when she lifted her head and smiled, showing the black eye in its full glory.

"What happened to your eye?" John asked curiously while Sherlock just stared at her.

"Got into a fight" she lied. Well it wasn't really a lie, she had gotten into a fight, a one way fight with her father and his fists.

"With a grown man?" John asked, he wasn't stupid. He could tell that the wound was inflicted by a grown man.

She just shrugged her shoulders at him "Guess I'm just looking for trouble" she teased with a quick glance at Sherlock.

John placed his hand on the desk calmly although even she could see that he was not buying the story and was pissed off with her lying about it. "Let's get this straight, you got a black eye from a grown man because…" he trailed off allowing her to finish.

"Because" she repeated ready to begin lying out of her teeth "I got in the way of his fist when he tried to hit a guy that I was out with, totally ruined the date but it's alright because he was way too immature anyway. As much as I would love to continue talking about my sex life, shall we look at my coursework?" she asked, knowing full well the adding of 'sex life' would make him drop the subject immediately.

"Er-yeah sure" John managed as both men blushed.

Olivia had to fight off the laugh by biting down hard on her lip as she sat down on the leather sofa that they had in the office while John looked over her coursework. She took out a compact mirror and inspected the damage. Her eye did look bad but it would go down in a few days and be barely recognisable. She sighed at the sight before slamming the mirror shut and stuffing it back into her bag. Sherlock was watching her intently. He was angry. Angry that she had a black eye but angrier because her father had done this to her yet she was still covering for him. Sherlock Holmes was angry, but the question was why? Why was he angry over something that was happening to one of his students? It was understandable to be angry with the situation but he was furious like his own sister or daughter was hurt. But then he didn't look at her like a sister or daughter, she was a student but there was something more than that. Even if he couldn't admit it to himself, because that would be far too dangerous for his career.

"Do you want some ice for that?" Sherlock asked in the calmest way possible.

"I don't want to trouble you, it will be fine without it." She touched the side of her face hesitantly.

Sherlock ignored her and pulled out an ice pack from the fridge/freezer that they had in the corner of the office. He sat down beside her, body turned towards her. He widened his eyes seeking confirmation to touch her, she nodded and he brought the ice pack to the left side of the face gently. She winced at the initial contact but relaxed into the coolness pretty quickly as she allowed it to sooth the warm bruise. A long finger brushed against her cheek so gently that she thought that she was imagining it but one look in Sherlock's eyes told her that she wasn't imagining it at all. Her mouth turned up into a slight smile as she pushed her face against the ice pack to get more contact between the coldness and her bruised eye and side.

"Thank you" she said in a hushed tone.

Sherlock lowered his head slightly and spoke quietly "This isn't going to just go away, if you want help you have to ask for it."

"I know" she admitted. "Until that day I'm fine."

"Clarissa" John spoke up catching both of their attentions. Clarissa couldn't help but blush before taking the ice pack from Sherlock and making her way over to John's desk to talk over coursework. They spent the next half hour going over coursework before calling the detention to an end.

Clarissa was walking down the street not ten minutes later with her phone in hand trying desperately to forget about what had just happened. She may have a crush on her teacher but that didn't mean he felt the same way and it defiantly didn't mean they would initiate a relationship even if they could because it was impossible and not to mention illegal, most likely. She groaned in frustration. The whole situation was ridiculous but she couldn't help the small amount of hope that seemed to be growing in the pit of her stomach. Of course all that hope would disappear as soon as she got home to her father.

It was a welcome surprise that her father was not only in a good mood when he arrived home but also sober. He questioned her on her day, she lied and they talked before having dinner. Nothing seemed to dampen his good mood and for that she was grateful. Somehow things seemed to be looking up when she went to be without a new injury, she smiled and thought of Mr Sherlock Holmes before drifting into her dreams.


	5. Chapter four – Bruises

**Chapter four – Bruises **

It was three weeks before another incident came to light. Clarissa was late which sparked worry instantly in John's mind. As soon as tutor ended he went to find Sherlock. He was sat comfortably in their office across the leather sofa.

"She's not here" was all he said as he closed the door to the office and looked over at his friend.

Sherlock turned his head in acknowledgement "I thought we were not getting involved" he replied spitefully.

"I know what I said" John snapped, perching himself on his desk to try and calm himself. "But she hasn't had a day off yet and if the last three weeks are anything to go by things at home have been going ok. There was bound to be a break eventually, she could be seriously hurt."

"I know" Sherlock admitted harshly. He knew it would happen sooner or later, he'd noticed how bruise free she'd been recently. It was only a matter of time before her father lost his temper again and hurt her badly. "You were right though, we cannot interfere unless she comes to us _or_ she comes into school."

John nodded, it was now a waiting game. If she didn't come in to school or come to them by the end of the day they would have to take action, if not for her then for their sanity. Sherlock was wound up enough by her, the fact she was being abused did not help this fact.

Clarissa was walking slowly to school. And by slowly it was a snail's pace, there was no way she would make it in otherwise. Her side hurt mostly, the pain shooting when she moved too much or too fast. It was also when she breathed in too far, the pain would seize her body and she'd lose control. The severe bruising across her right side on the ribs suggested a cracked rib at least. The trouble she was having breathing would back this up.

She had thrown on a black baggy top and a pair of grey leggings. Smart clothing had gone out the window today, all she cared about was making it to school and being comfortable. The painkillers she had taken at breakfast seemed to have no effect or if they did were already wearing off.

The school halls were empty by the time she reached them, they were about half way through period one. Clarissa felt a hand close on her arm, the touch gentle but firm at the same time. She looked up to see Mr Holmes to her side with a worried expression, he steered her towards his office. He took note of her slow careful movements and pulled her ever so gently, not with much force behind it but with enough direction to take her towards the open door of his office. She stepped inside and allowed him to lead her to the sofa. John looked up from his work, raising an eyebrow at the two of them. He let go of her arm and watched her sit down, wincing as she did so.

"Why are you late?" Sherlock demanded to know, he went back to the door and shut it firmly before retaking his position in front of her, looking down with his grey eyes, hands on hips. John moved around his desk to stand next to Sherlock and stood in a more relaxed position with his arms over his chest loosely.

"I – I – "she stammered, unable to think of a good excuse. She straightened up, automatically regretting it when pain shot up her side, she wined.

"You are in pain" Sherlock observed.

"I think I may have a cracked rib" she offered with a small smile. "I have bruising all down my right side, I couldn't get here on time because I was unconscious, I woke up and made my way here but any pain relief I have taken hasn't helped."

"How?" Sherlock asked, his brows creasing slightly. He feared he already knew the answer to the question but needed the confirmation from her.

Clarissa clenched her eyes shut tightly to fight back the tears forming. She opened them again so to look into his grey eyes once more, a single tear escaping her eyes and rolling gracefully down her cheek in a shimmering line. "Please don't ask" she begged.

Sherlock nodded and turned to John. "Would you go find the nurse, she can check Clarissa over before deciding whether or not she needs to go to the hospital."

"No" she argued, jumping to her feet. She regretted it as soon as she did it, the pain in her side stretching uncontrollably. She cried out and readied herself to fall down, unable to even hold herself on her own legs. Sherlock was at her side like magic, she hadn't even seen him move. His long arms surrounded her, keeping her steadily on her feet. He placed her back on the sofa so that he back was now on the armrest and she was half sitting, half laying. "No nurse, no hospitals. Surely you could check me over." She demanded innocently.

"Firstly, I am not a doctor. Yes I have a vast amount of knowledge of the human anatomy but again not a doctor. John it a doctor but this brings me to my second point, we are your teachers. The very notion that we check your injuries over is considered morally wrong, if not illegal." Sherlock answered quickly, his words overlapping at points as he struggled to control his breathing.

Clarissa gave a long and pain riddled sigh. "Then I will walk out of this office, without seeing the nurse, without going to the hospital, in fact I will walk out of the school and go straight back home. Who knows perhaps going home is the best option for me." She challenged, raising an eyebrow at the two teachers.

"Fine" Sherlock snapped. He turned to John "will you please aid me evaluating Miss Johnson's wounds"

John nodded "Yes" he added for extra measure.

They both stood slightly hesitant, not wanting to be the first one to move first or to touch a student first. Clarissa gave an annoyed sigh and snapped "I give you _both_ permission to touch me".

John nodded but waited for Sherlock to move first. They both took their placed next to the sofa, Sherlock crouching so he was level with her, right next to her face. John stood next to Sherlock so he would be able to get a good look at the wound. "You're going to have to remove you top" John said, his cheeks lighting up scarlet.

"Sure" she said with a small laugh. "Help me?"

Sherlock nodded and reached for the hem of her shirt hesitantly before pulling it over her head lightly. Clarissa leaned forward to give him enough leverage to pull the shirt up and over her head. Sherlock let the top fall to the floor, his eyes glued to her now exposed body. She was sat now in a pair of leggings and a simple flower patterned bra. The bruising was dark, spread across the entire right side of her body. The bruises were a dark purple with raw red patches across a few ribs. The discolouration started just at her bra strap and stopped at her hip. Covering almost the entire of the right side of her body, the shaping looked like she had been kicked repeatedly while protecting the other parts of her body.

Sherlock glanced at John who looked horrified by what he was seeing. Sherlock gave a small nod and placed a hand on her face, gently grazing her cheekbones with his knuckle while his other hand went to rest on his shoulder. John's hand went to her side, gently going over each bruise, applying small amounts of pressure on her ribs. She winced at the contact but found herself distracted from the pain by Sherlock's grey eyes and the way his hand was caressing her face.

"You're lucky it's only severe bruising, your ribs are fine." John said pulling back from her and fetching a bottle of water and some painkillers for her to take.

"Thanks, I have a lesson now" she said, taking the water and painkillers from him and taking them.

"No you don't" Sherlock said sternly, picking her top up from the floor and placing it on her chest. "You will rest here for the rest of the day and then I will drive you home. If you insist on not going to the hospital then allow me to watch over you, John will clear it with your teachers." John gave a nod before disappearing through the door.

Clarissa pulled her top on with great difficulty and pain before settling herself back on the sofa. She closed her eyes and lent her head back slightly, sleep seemed like the most important thing.


	6. Chapter five – Close encounters

**Chapter five – Close encounters**

When Clarissa stirred from her sleep she was aware immediately upon opening her eyes that she was not at home. She shut her eyes tightly, her body aching all over with the pain in her side and her neck stiff from the half sitting, half laying position that she was now stuck in. She stretched like one does after waking up from a seemingly long sleep and opened her eyes again. The room was in better focus. She was in Dr Watson and Mr Holmes office, on the sofa they had back against one of the walls. Then she remembered how she came to be there and blushed at the thought.

Daringly, she glance down at her own body. She was dressed, _thank God_ with a thin blanket over her.

"You're awake" A voice observed from behind her. The baritone belonged to Sherlock, he stepped out from behind his desk and round into her line of sight. "How are you feeling?" The question was a simple and reeked of common curtsy which Mr Holmes didn't seem to care about usually, there was something else. It felt like he even cared.

"Fine, thank you" she managed, her throat dry. "I ache a bit but I guess that is to be expected." Clarissa glanced around the room to see if Dr Watson was there as well, the ache in her neck stopped her from moving too much.

"He's not here" Sherlock said simple, elaborating with a raise of his right eyebrow. "Dr Watson, he went home half an hour ago, after school ended. I thought it was best to allow you to sleep. That way your body can repair itself faster."

"Have I been asleep all day?" She asked in disbelief, taking a moment to run her hands softly over her body as if testing for pain. She grimaced slightly at the tenderness on her right side before looking up into Mr Holmes's grey stare.

He nodded his head slowly. "You haven't been disturbed, and you were never alone, either myself or John were watching you –"he stopped himself and frowned at her amusement on her face. He brought his hand to his mouth and cleared his throat elegantly before attempting to correct himself. "observing you, not watching, defiantly not watching."

Clarissa giggled at the flustered teacher. "I didn't think that you were watching me in that sense"

"What sense?" he asked narrowing his eyes.

"In the creepy stalker sense" she suggested with a shrug of her shoulders. She swung her legs round so that her feet met the floor and she could stand up when she needed to. "I know that you meant" Sherlock rolled his hand in an 'elaborate' way, so she did. "You were watching me the way a nurse would a patient, a parent a child, a lover their partner. I get it."

Sherlock gave a brisk nod of his head and moved back towards his desk. Organising things with his back to her as he talked "I will drive you home once I have cleared away a few things."

"No rush" Clarissa commented taking the moment to watch him as he cleared away books and tidied things up.

The drive home started in silence, it was almost deafening. Clarissa had given him the address as they climbed into the very nice (expensive) black car. It surprised her that even with the address he didn't use a Satnav; instead he seemed to be using a map inside his mind.

After ten minutes of silence Sherlock spoke into the car in his usual bored sounding baritone. "Are you going to be ok at home?"

Clarissa turned her head to look at him and raised an eyebrow. "I'll be fine, but thank you for the concern."

"You should have a hot bath to ease the pain and more painkillers before you go to bed" he suggested, his grey eyes still firmly resting on the road ahead.

"Sound like a plan" she said in a sarcastic way, what did he think she was going to do? Go clubbing with a bruised side like hers.

Sherlock glanced at her with knitted brows, obviously unimpressed with her use of sarcasm before turning his attention back to the road with a roll of his eyes. "You were right" she said quickly thinking of their conversation a few weeks earlier in his classroom, how he had seen that she was attracted to him. Clarissa kept her eyes fixed on the window and the passing streets.

"About what?" he inquired, eyes flicking to her for a brief second.

"When you _saw_" she emphasised not knowing the correct word for exactly what he did. "That I am attracted to you. You were right, about it"

"Only that?" Sherlock questioned, he knew he was right about the abuse but he needed to get onto a different less risky subject.

Clarissa pursed her lips but didn't answer him. Instead she tapped her hand on her leg and spoke in confidently, ignoring his question. "When someone tells you that you're attracted to them usually you say thank you or return the compliment, but ignoring the subject completely is fine I guess. It's you and I am attracted to you so subconsciously I must like your deflection of the subject…." She trailed off, talking to herself more than him. "…the situation isn't exactly ideal so I guess it's understandable to deflect."

"You are talking to yourself" Sherlock observed, his voice half way between amused and nervous.

"And you're avoiding the subject." She replied, turning to look at him as he pulled up outside her house. "What have you got to lose?"

Sherlock gave a stifled laugh, his hands falling off the steering wheel and into his lap. "My job, my reputation, you can take your pick."

Clarissa giggled at him. "I'm not asking for a relationship, I'm asking you to tell me if you are attracted to me. I'm not going to tell anyone, my lips are sealed, I'm good at keeping secrets."

Sherlock repositioned himself in the seat so that he body was turned more towards her, his hands in fists on his knees as she unbuckled herself and mimicked his action. They were facing each other, grey eyes staring into blue as he spoke slowly, almost seductively (but anything could sound seductive coming from him, sitting in his car). "I am not attracted to you" he lied, but it was a good lie.

Clarissa felt like she'd been punched but kept her face straight. "See that wasn't so hard was it?" she responded quickly as if his words hadn't caused her any pain. She leant forward slightly, surprised that he didn't pull back but remained still. She could feel the warmth of his breath on her face as she whispered. "I'm seventeen, legal in the eyes of the law, months away from being considered an adult, just think about it."

Clarissa then in one swift movement turned in her seat and stepped out of the car without showing any pain, although she felt it. She slammed the door with more force than necessary and walked towards her house with a smirk on her face. She didn't look back as much as she wanted to, she kept her eyes forward and didn't turn around until she had closed the front door.

Sherlock let out a long sigh and sunk into the seat. How was he supposed to think of anything else when she spoke in whispers with her face close enough to his to feel every warm breath. His mobile started ringing and he cursed before pulling it out. He could tell without glancing at the screen that it was his elder brother Mycroft who 'worried about him constantly'.

"What do you want?" Sherlock snapped.

"There is no need to be rude" the well-spoken voice of his brother answered curtly. "I'm just curious to what you think you are doing, Clarissa Johnson is your student."

"I know she's my student" Sherlock snapped again. His brother happened to be able to anger him without actually wanting or trying to, being himself was enough to annoy him.

"Excuse the confusion then because you just drove her home, after she spent the whole day asleep in your office."

"Having me watched again, how original" Sherlock mocked.

"You know I worry about you –" Mycroft started.

Sherlock cut him off, putting on his brother's voice melodramatically and speaking slowly. "Constantly" he sighed, running a hand through his curls before adding. "I know what I am doing Mycroft, she is just a student, nothing more." He hung up the phone, throwing it onto the other seat.


	7. Chapter 6 - open day

**Chapter six – Open day **

Sherlock knew it was a bad idea but he couldn't back out of it now, it would be too suspicious. It had been weeks since their 'close encounter' as he had named it verbally. And he had forgotten, yes Sherlock Holmes had forgotten that he had asked her at the beginning of the school year to help out at the open day for perspective year seven students. Now he was stuck in his classroom with Clarissa while she chatted away to the parent and their children with a wide smile on her face, she discussed the courses for the year sevens and how they progressed into GCSE classes then to A-level, like her. Sherlock wasn't idle of course, he was also chatting politely to parents and explaining in detail the courses and the subjects interest.

He couldn't help but notice how well she was doing. The kids seemed to love her, all asking her questions and commenting on the grey top and skirt she was wearing. He could hear her praising him in her sweet voice "Mr Holmes really is the best teacher of Physics, the subject would be far less interesting without him teaching it."

"He seems more interested in the subject then the children" A parent argued.

"Cold" another added causing the other mums to nod in agreement.

Sherlock didn't give much through to the parents views on him, they were not important in his mind. But he watched as Clarissa tensed slightly, before replying a little sterner but with the same wide smile. "It's a front, everybody has them. He seems cold and uncaring but in fact he cares a great deal. Recently he helped me out, I didn't want help but he's still there ready for when I change my mind and actually ask for his help." Her eyes found his for a moment but she looked back at the parents and continued. "He cares about the students education, he himself was an oxford scholar and knows the subject like the back of his hand, if you want your children to do well with this subject then you should pray to whatever God you believe in that they get him as a teacher. He's changed my outlook, I cannot imagine physics without him."

The parents seemed stunned. One rather plastic looking one with light blonde hair and fake eyelashes commented. "Seems like you've got the hots for your teacher" she joked, causing the other parents to laugh, adding "He is pretty dishy."

Clarissa's blue gaze settled on Sherlock's as she joined in the laughter. "I think we must separate having the 'hots' and admiration." She corrected. "I admire him very much. He is a great man."

Not long after the parents and students disappeared, either talking to other teachers or heading home. Clarissa was busying herself by sorting through the books and papers they had lying on the desks. Once in neat piles she turned to face Sherlock who was lent against his desk, leg crossed over the other, arms crossed and eyes fixed firmly on her.

"You admire me?" He repeated, the rising inflection at the end signalling it being a question. Clarissa could feel herself blushing and gave a small nod of clarification.

"Quite" She looked down at the floor instead of at him.

"Are you aware that now all those parents and their children think that you like me?" Sherlock raised his eyebrow at her questioningly.

"It did seem like that but I only told the truth" she smiled, finally looking back up at him. His grey eyes were fixed on her.

Clarissa didn't know where he sudden burst of confidence came from but she was crossing the room until she was stood directly in front of him. Their faces were only centimetres apart when he lent forward to seal their lips together. The kiss was chaste, lasting only a few seconds before they both pulled back.

Clarissa saw the conflict in his eyes and backed away. He might have been the one to kiss her but she didn't pull away and he had so much more to lose. Instead of apologizing for something she wasn't sorry for she left wordlessly, allowing him to think.

* * *

**this is such a short chapter, i apologize.**


	8. Chapter 7 - moments

**Chapter seven – Moments**

The passing week had been horrible for Sherlock. He was thinking non-stop about the kiss, the kiss that he had incited with a pupil in his classroom during an open day. He'd been practically beating himself up about it. It didn't help that he saw her four days this week, of course she hadn't let on that anything was wrong. On the contrary she seemed to be acting normal, like nothing was happening, like nothing had happened. He thought that she might have been ignoring the kiss because she didn't like him but then again she had been the one to proposition him that day in the car. It was clear that she was just thinking about other things and giving him the space he needed. But he didn't want space, he wanted her. It was practically killing him.

Clarissa had kept her head down during class and gotten on with the work. There had been a small moment where she had looked up from her textbook on Monday. Their eyes connected for a few seconds before she had looked down with a blush spreading across her cheeks. At the end of class she had lingered for a minute as she placed her timed essay on his desk at the top of the pile. There was a small post it note on the top with a note scrawled in her effortlessly neat handwriting 'I'm waiting Mr Holmes, don't make me wait too long.' Sherlock felt his heart flutter at the way she had scribbled her name at the bottom. He pocketed the note not wanting to lose it anytime soon and started on marking the essays. It only stood to reason that he mark hers first, it was on the top of the pile.

* * *

It was Wednesday when he saw her again. The school day had just started and she was in the hallway with a pile of notes in her hand that seemed to be well organised if the small coloured post it notes on the edges were anything to go by. There was also a folder in her hand so she must have been planning to put them into the folder during tutor time. That to Sherlock was the tell-tale sign of a dedicated student, someone who was willing to work in tutor time instead of chatting aimlessly with her friends about whatever they had done that was insignificant the night before.

She was dressed in a tight skirt that stopped just below her knees with a red tartan pattern. A simple black top was over the top with some heeled black trainers. The outfit was concealing of everything except the bruises dotted over her arms. A boy in her year, Daniel something or other was obviously unaware of her walking as he bashed into her. His shoulder hit hers hard, she turned on impact, pulling her shoulder away from his with a hiss of pain. The papers in her hands fell from her hands and scattered across the floor.

"Nice move wanker" she spoke sarcastically as she cradled her shoulder slightly with her other hand.

Daniel looked mortified. Sherlock almost laughed. It was clear to him almost immediately why the boy had frozen looking like he was staring at a monster. He liked her. There were the tell-tale signs, how he looked at her, eyes flicking over her whole boy and halting on her lips. The way he then licked his lips and how he talked about her with his friends. "I-I'm so sorry" Daniel apologised, crouching down to help her pick up the papers.

Clarissa rubbed at her shoulder slightly. "Leave it Daniel, I can do it." She insisted as she moved into a crouched position the best she could with her skirt and heels. Daniels kept on picking up the papers and pulling them into a straight pile as his eyes lined up with her chest.

"Seriously Clarissa I didn't mean it, I wasn't looking where I was going. It was entirely my fault." He said quickly. It was surprising that he wasn't tripping over his words by how nervous he was getting.

The school bell rang loudly, signalling tutor times for the students. "Go to tutor Daniel, I can handle this and know it was an accident."

Daniel handed her the papers he had collected before practically running down the hallway to tutor. Clarissa let out a small laugh at the sight of him running away nervously but carried on gathering the papers.

"Do you need some help?" Sherlock asked from where he was stood against some lockers. They were alone in the hallway now.

"I'm fine" she responded simply with all the papers now in hand. She stood up as quickly as she could.

"You've hurt your shoulder" he observed. "Is it bruised?"

"Yes" she almost hissed, the 'S' sound was elongated more than necessary. There was still some pain if she was being honest but mostly she could ignore it. "Nothing excessive, it's just a little tender today but it's nothing some pain killers won't fix."

"Only if you're sure?" he asked. They both knew he wasn't asking about the shoulder, well he was but it was subtext. He knew he couldn't do anything about the abuse until she came to him for help. Right now he was asking about the post it note she had written to him, about waiting.

"I'm sure" she replied with a smile before heading towards tutor. Sherlock smiled to himself against his wishes, he just couldn't help being happy about it. Of course that didn't mean he was making a decision it was far from a decision.

* * *

"What did you think you were doing?" Sherlock questioned. There was no compassion in his voice, it was instead dripping with annoyance.

The two students were at the front of the classroom. Daniel had his head ducked in embarrassment, the arm of his shirt was wet from where he had seemingly tripped over and dropped a jug of water that was meant for their experiment. Clarissa's white top was soaked through so the material was sticking to her like a second skin and doing nothing but drawing attention to her pale pink bra. The rest of the class had been excused a few minutes early while he dealt with the situation at hand.

"It was an accident –" Daniel began in explanation.

Sherlock cut him off almost immediately. "An accident that had you and a fellow student" he gestured towards Clarissa but didn't dare look at her "drenched with cold water not to mention breaking a glass jug. Are you really that dim-witted that walking the meter from the sink to your desk is too much a task to arrive without disaster?"

Clarissa spoke up at this point. "I don't think that's fair Sh-" she began but corrected herself quickly when he glared at her "-Sir. Daniel just tripped over, he didn't mean for the water to spill or jug to smash, it was an accident."

Sherlock eyed her for a minute, careful to keep his gaze on her eyes and not the very visible pale pink bra. "Daniel you may go, please try and be more careful. I'm not sure the school can stand more of your accidents." Daniel kept his head ducked down as he picked up his bag and left without a sound.

The door slammed shut. Sherlock let out a long breath. "Do you have a change of shirt or jumper or something?" he asked with more care. "That water was extremely cold and you cannot keep that shirt on. It will do nothing for your health and well it leaves little to the imagination." Clarissa blushed at his words but shook her head. She hadn't thought to bring a spare set of clothes of jumper today. Sherlock sighed and plucked up a dark blue and grey striped jumper from the back of his desk chair. He handed it to her wordlessly. "Put it on" he instructed when he noted her confused look.

"Thanks" she muttered before peeling off her own wet shirt. Sherlock wanted to look away or protest but couldn't bring himself to. Instead he just watched, eyes wide in surprise as she dropped the water covered shirt to the floor. She was stood in the middle of his classroom with only her bra on, it was incredibly inappropriate, anybody could walk in but that did nothing to make Sherlock want to protest the action. He felt the blood flow south but ignored it as he watched fascinated as she slipped on his jumper.

The material was soft against her skin but not overly tight. It was just lose enough to cling to her chest. It was a male jumper and not designed for women. The V neck showed off her cleavage while she adjusted to the feeling. It was Sherlock Holmes jumper and it smelt like him. Small amounts of cigarette smoke and coffee mixed with an expensive cologne and the natural smell that is Sherlock. Sherlock opened his mouth to speak but Clarissa looked up, her blue eyes dilated as she spoke slowly. "I have to go to lesson." Sherlock gave a small nod of the head and turned away from her. Clarissa took this as her queue to leave. Sherlock only relaxed when the door closed, he released a long breath. He was in school, half hard and totally in love with one of his students.


	9. Chapter 8 - Gold

**Chapter eight – Gold (show me love like I've never know)**

The school was open late due to a school concert which all teachers were expected to attend as moral support for the students performing and the teachers who had set the whole thing up. Clarissa was readying herself back stage for her performance. She had dressed herself in a pair of black tights with leather shorts over the top and a gold sequin vest top. Her brown hairs were down, front section pulled back off her face and back combed intro a small quiff. To complete the look she had added a pair of gold hoops that had belonged to her mum. She'd gone as far as applying gold eye make-up and nude lipstick.

The students on stage, a group of year ten girls were finished and bowing to the audience as the music teacher came back on stage. She took the main microphone "Thank you girls, now we have an original song written and performed by Clarissa Johnson."

Clarissa took this as her queue and walked onto stage. There was a small amount of applause, an acceptable amount for someone who had not yet performed but was about to perform. Clarissa exchanged smiles with her music teacher as she took the microphone from her and placed it on the microphone stand that had been placed on stage.

She gave a small nod of her head to signal she was ready and the music began. The music filled the room. Clarissa lent back from the mouth to gulp nervously so the microphone wouldn't pick up on it Moving her face back to the mic she starts singing the song she had written for her music project. "_Everyone dies, and not everyone lives – everyone takes, but not everyone gives – I wanna see my name written across the sky- I'm not going up in flames, I choose to sur-vi-ve." _Clarissa closed her eyes as she went into the pre-chorus "_So tonight we dance this rhythm – Til the light of morning hits us – We may never see a moment as magical as this one."_

Clarissa opened her eyes and rocked her body slightly "_You're like Gold – You make me feel like goooold – you make me feel like goooold – you make me feel like goooold" _she held the note longer than the previous 'golds'. Her eyes sought through the audience carelessly, it was crazy how at ease she felt performing in front of them all "_show me love like I've never known – Baby you make me feel like gold."_

Clarissa removed the microphone from its stand and took a step around it so she was closer to the audience with the microphone firmly in her right hand. "_Some people wait for love to come – Til it's too late I won't be yours –cause there's an energy pulling me to you – We are two hearts beating together now, it's true – ohhh- ohhhh- oh - So tonight we dance this rhythm – Til the light of morning hits us – We may never see a moment as magical as this one." _

Clarissa smirked as she went into the chorus, raising her left arm into the arm as she sung _"You're like Gold – You make me feel like goooold" _she withdrew her arm into her body, her left hand clenching into a fist as she concentrated on hitting all the notes "_ – you make me feel like goooold – you make me feel like goooold –" _She looked directly as Sherlock who was in the second row of the audience with John. Her teacher widened his eyes in surprise "_show me love like I've never known – Baby you make me feel like gold."_

Clarissa took another step towards the end of the stage, eyes still on Sherlock as she straightened her posture and prepared for the bridge. "_The way you make me feel, you know it really takes me up – In every single day I pray I always give enough – 'Cause baby how you save my life, it's loving it's fact – And I just wanna give it all ba-aaa-ac-ck" _Clarissa reached up with her left arm again "_You're like Gold – You make me feel like goooold" _she brought her left arm down slowly, brushing it against her side before making a sweeping gesture at the audience. "_– you make me feel like goooold – you make me feel like goooold –_" she made no attempt to hide her eyes settling on Sherlock again with a small wink "_show me love like I've never known – Baby you make me feel like gold."_

The applause was instant as she stopped singing and the music trailed off like all music does. Clarissa scanned over the audience with a wide grin on her face and bowed before handing the mic back to her teacher. Instead of going behind stage again she just climbed down the stage steps into the audience. Her jacket was rested on the chair next to Daniel, he handed it to her wordlessly with a quick "you were amazing" before she took off down the aisle in the audience, pulling her jacket over to cover her body.

When she reached the silent hallway she let out the breath that she hadn't even known she was holding. A hand clasp tightly around her arm and spun her around, back hitting the lockers with more force than necessary. Clarissa's body jerked at the contact and she started "What the fu-" She cut herself off when she saw it was Sherlock. He looked the same as ever in black trousers and a grey shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He looked shaken, his black curls were unruly like usual but more so like he had been running his hands through them. Grey eyes were fixed on hers, pupils dilated. She breathed out "Sherlock?" It was a question. She wanted to know exactly what he was playing at.

"The song –" he began speaking in a hushed tone.

"Gold" she clarified for him. Clarissa couldn't help but notice how close they were. Their faces were so close that their breaths mingled. Every time he exhaled she could smell mint mixed with coffee and cigarette.

Sherlock gave a small nod of acknowledgement as he continued in the same hushed tone, his voice low and overly seductive. "Was it – did you write it – " he tried, for the first time in his life unable to get his words out clearly. "Was it for me?"

After a moment of silence with the only noise their breathing in the empty hallway. There was the thump of the music from the hall and faint traces of someone singing with instruments playing but it was dull and background to the sound of their breaths mixing in the air. She spoke finally after what seemed like hours "Yes".

That was apparently all Sherlock needed to hear. He swooped in, lips crashing almost violently against hers. This was far from the kiss that they had shared in his classroom which was sweet and chaste. It was hungry and desperate like the world depended on it. Sherlock's lip opened against hers, following his lead she opened her mouth to deepen the kiss. His hand found its way to the back of her head, pushing her further into the kiss as his tongue probed its way into her mouth. Clarissa found her hands resting on his hips, fingers digging into the soft material of his shirt. Sherlock's tongue brushed her lips gently before battling some more with her own tongue. The taste of coffee ad cigarettes was clearer now, the mint was just a faint taste from brushing ones teeth.

Sherlock pulled away when the need for oxygen overpowered him. Clarissa took in a large needy breath against his lips which were still so close to hers that they brushed together with every movement of his head. Sherlock's curl covered forehead lent against hers. Grey eyes closer than they had ever been to hers. Both of their pupils were wide with longing, it was so close to arousal that she didn't think she could handle it.

"I need –" Sherlock began. This wasn't going to be easy, they had just made out in school with a hall full of students, parents and other teachers not five meters away. They would have to tread carefully before anything could continue. "We can't do this, not here."

"I get it" she found her voice even if it was shakier than usual. "Let's talk outside of this."

Sherlock gave a curt nod, his forehead moving against hers slightly. He pulled back reluctantly, the arm at the back of her neck tracing her spine for a few seconds before dropping back to his side. "I'll text you a time and place, if you can't be there let me know." Sherlock said in the same hushed tone he had used before their kiss. He hesitated before adding "And if you need anything, anything" he repeated for emphasis "just call me, I'll know it's important because I prefer to text."

Clarissa gave a nod. Sherlock lent forward to place a chaste kiss on her lips before pulling away from her completely and heading back into the main hall where the concert was happening.

* * *

The text had come through as she arrived home.

**Saturday morning. 6:30am, at Kingsley park. The bench overlooking the pond, how do you take your coffee? –SH**

Clarissa had just sprawled out on her bed with a happy grin plastered to her face, tapping out a quick response.

**I'll be there. Black, two sugars. **

She didn't sign it like he had, there was no reason to. He knew exactly who he was texting. Clarissa placed the phone on her bedside table and closed her eyes, the kiss replaying in her mind as she drifted in a peaceful sleep.


	10. Chapter 9 - Saturday

**Chapter nine – Saturday**

It's cold when Clarissa arrives at the park on Saturday. The air was cold enough to warrant her wearing a coat, it was a simple black winter coat that covered up a simple grey top and black skinny jeans. Sherlock was sat on the bench as she approached. He was wrapped up in his dark grey coat that made him look mysterious with a blue scarf wrapped around his neck. She had no doubt that he was wearing a shirt, black trousers and the matching blazer underneath. It seemed to be his look, the only other thing she had actually seen him in was a jumper. All his clothes were well tailored that was to say, they were tight and obviously expensive.

Clarissa sat herself down next to him, far enough that she wasn't crowding him while being close enough to feel the heat emulating from him. Sherlock's eyes remained focused on the pond in front of them as he handed her a travel coffee from a local coffee shop. The pond was slightly frosted over from the cold night air with visual heat rising from the slightly hotter air. A layer of frost was covering the whole of the park, only sections of the grass were frost free from the small amounts of sun light that were fighting its way through clouds.

Sherlock's grey eyes remained focused on the pond like he was deliberately trying to ignore her. Clarissa didn't take it to heart, instead she took a sip of her coffee. It was perfect, sweet from the sugar but still bitter from being without milk. It was an acceptable drink but she wouldn't drink it completely out of her own leisure, it was more for waking herself up than anything.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Sherlock asked after a few moment, the rich baritone breaking the silence between them. It was the only sound in the park at this moment other that the small sounds of nature. It was still early so no one would be around.

"I've never been surer in my life" she admitted, taking a long sip of coffee.

"Good…that's good" Sherlock commented before taking a sip of his own coffee. He placed the cup on the ground and turned his body so he was facing her. Grey eyes speckled with blue as he looked at her for the first time this morning.

"I guess you need some reassurance" she ventured, eyes fixed on his. "that this isn't just some kind of schoolgirl crush. I mean you'd be risking a lot just thinking about dating me but actually doing it is your whole career and reputation on the line. I think you should know that I would rather this not happen then have you risk everything. I'm not at risk, nothing will happen to me if this goes sour." Clarissa took a large breath. "The media would no doubt paint the picture of a damaged girl whose teacher took advantage of her. Even if it is far from the truth. Sherlock" she said his name hesitantly having only ever called him Mr Holmes before, it was exhilarating to say his name. "I know how I feel about you, it's the only thing I really know. I feel it in my stomach every time I see you, it makes me feel sick and my heart ache. Is that real enough to risk everything?"

Sherlock continued to stare at her. His face remaining neutral and not giving away any of his thoughts, instead he studied her face. "This wouldn't be like any other relationship you have had. You wouldn't be able to tell anyone and we'd have to be careful."

"I have no one to tell and I'm great at keeping secrets." She muttered playfully in response.

"Another thing" Sherlock's eyes narrowed and brows knitted at her. "I don't want you to hide from me ever, I want you to be able to trust me with anything."

"I do" she reassured, rubbing her hands against the heated coffee cup for warmth.

"I know that your father is abusing you but I will not press the matter as long as you are safe." Sherlock managed, unable to keep the anger from his voice.

Clarissa was unable to provide a response, instead she brought her lips to his in a chaste kiss in a hope that it would be answer enough. She also really wanted to kiss him, it had been the first and last thought in her mind since kissing him yesterday. When she pulled away Sherlock's lips followed, his eyes were wide open and staring into hers.

The feeling of a hand at the back of her head gave her the push she needed to seal their lips together again. Sherlock's eyes shut seconds after hers and Clarissa parted her lips to allow him access to her mouth. There was the taste of coffee from both their mouths with the underlining taste of cherry from her lips balm. Sherlock pulled away first, planting a chaste kiss on her lips and resting his forehead on hers for a moment. "I don't share" he whispered possessively.

"Then I won't make you" she responded in a whisper. "If you want me to be, I'll be yours."

Sherlock's mouth turned into a smile. "You already are" he said slowly, each word spoken with every letter pronounced. He lent forward to kiss her again, a chaste kiss before deepening it. Moist lips rubbed against each other as her tongue entered his mouth first, taking initiative like she had been dying to.


End file.
